


Along With All the Strife

by julianbashir



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Bisexual Disaster Sokka (Avatar), Epistolary, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, M/M, Mentioned Ozai (Avatar), Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant - The Legend of Korra, Not Compliant with Avatar Comics, Post-Canon, Post-War, historical documents, honestly pretty fluffy but they all have ptsd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29176173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julianbashir/pseuds/julianbashir
Summary: Scholars have guessed at many potential identities for Chaejin, from the far-fetched (Master Toph Beifong) to the purely fanciful (an unnamed cabbage salesman).The prevailing theory at the time of publication is that Chaejin’s work was a collaboration between a member of the Fire Nation royal family and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe.—Kirima Hira’a,A Storied Life in an Age of Upheaval: A History of Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, p. 7---Sokka never actuallymeantto become one of the great historians of their time, it's just that he always liked telling stories and having excuses to hang out with Zuko.
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko, Katara/Aang, Mai/Ty Lee, Past Sokka/Suki, Past Zuko/Mai - Relationship, Sokka/Zuko
Comments: 28
Kudos: 127





	1. An Era of Peace and Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Iroh's dialogue spoken to Zuko in the episode **The Avatar and the Fire Lord** : _Born in you, along with all the strife, is the power to restore balance to the world._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Zuko’s dialogue in **The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse** : _We’ve created an era of fear in the world. And if we don’t want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness._

_Leaves from the vine_

_Falling so slow_

_Like fragile tiny shells_

_Drifting in the foam_

_Little soldier boy_

_Come marching home_

_Brave soldier boy_

_Comes marching home_

\- Earliest known lyrics to _Leaves from the Vine_ , originally a common lullaby in the central region of the Fire Nation. _Leaves from the Vine_ was popularized and lyrically expanded as a song of mourning for lost soldiers in both the Earth and Fire Kingdoms during the reign of Fire Lord Zuko. Although most often sung unaccompanied, instrumental arrangements for both Tsungi horn and a variety of stringed instruments can be found dating to this period. It has seen a surge in popularity in recent years as a beginner’s piano piece after being featured in the hit children's film _The Badgermoles of Ba Sing Se_.

~~~

_And in his long awaited moment of triumph, the great Dragon of the West received the news that his only son and heir had been most grievously wounded and would not survive his injuries. To compound this dire news, there would be no time to reach his son's unit before his certain death._

_It is said that the grief of General Iroh, then Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, was so great and terrible that along with his wails a mighty plume of fire poured forth from his mouth as the tears streamed from his eyes. His lamentations could be felt and heard on both sides of the vast walls of Ba Sing Se, crying out to Agni himself to offer his own life in exchange._

“O my son, would Agni and all the Spirits let me die in thy stead, O Lu Ten, my son! My son!”

_No Spirits moved to intervene, as they so rarely do in the wars of man. The Dragon of the West ceased his siege upon the walls and turned over his men to his second in command. He did not write to tell Fire Lord Azulon of the destruction of the outer walls or the death of his son. Instead, the Dragon of the West left Ba Sing Se that very day, that he might accompany his son’s bones to Caldera for the funeral rites due him as one in line to the throne._

_It would be years, and in the company of another young prince the Dragon of the West would one day call his son, before he again stood before the mighty walls of Ba Sing Se._

-An excerpt from one of the later passages of _Discourses of the Fire Nation,_ in a section that has most often been attributed to Chaejin, a noted scholar and contemporary of Fire Lord Zuko and the Avatar Aang. Chaejin was presumably named after the infamous son of Lady Huazo, the mistress of Fire Lord Chaeryu.

There is much speculation in academic circles that Chaejin was a pen name for a famous contemporary, as the likelihood of any surviving nobles of the Saewon clan naming their child after a famous coup leader and pretender to the throne, even from as long ago a conflict as the Camellia-Peony War, was unlikely under the tempestuous reign of Fire Lord Azulon or his immediate successor.

Scholars have guessed at many potential identities for Chaejin, from the far-fetched (Master Toph Beifong, Avatar Aang’s Earthbending instructor, who by all surviving accounts was blind from birth. Despite her high status, Master Toph did not learn any formal reading or lettering systems until her later teen years, at which time she came under the tutelage of an obscure sect of scholars from west of Omashu who specialized in chalk-based writing and illustration. Her writing style, however, would always tends toward the terse and frequently vulgar, even in official correspondence) to the purely fanciful (an unnamed cabbage salesman who was sited in a number of the more wildly fictionalized accounts of Avatar Aang’s travels in the Earth and Fire Kingdoms prior to the return of Sozin’s Comet).

The prevailing theory at the time of publication is that Chaejin’s work was a collaboration between a member of the Fire Nation royal family and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe.

The surviving samples of Chaejin’s writings do share numerous similarities with Sokka’s known writing, both in style and substance. We have many verified samples of his writing thanks to his lifelong habit of personal journal keeping as well as his prolific correspondence. This is in addition to the numerous formal documents amassed throughout his years as an ambassador, a friend to the Avatar Aang and his cohort, and after the restoration of the Southern Water Tribe, as a royal himself.

The slight variations in tone and the correct usage of even highly obscure Fire Nation history and lore, even early in Chaejin’s writings, lends credence to the existence of a co-writer. If not a true collaborator, it is likely that someone highly familiar with and frequently in contact with Sokka had an intimate relationship with or was a member of the royal family, or perhaps well-learned and -placed nobles. 

As most well-placed nobles at the time of Fire Lord Zuko’s ascension to the throne were soon stripped of their titles (and often much of their property in recompense for various crimes against the people of the Fire Nation), that almost certainly points to a member of the royal family. As Ozai the Disgraced personally assassinated or arranged for the deaths of most of the extended members of the royal family, and he himself was imprisoned for life before Sokka ever set foot in the Royal Plaza, this leaves very few possibilities.

The most likely options are Prince Iroh (a possibility, as he had a warm relationship with Sokka until the end of his days, to the extent that both Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe took part in the royal family’s full year of formal mourning at the time of Prince Iroh’s passing), Princess Azula (highly unlikely, given her documented animosity to Sokka himself, as well as the other members of Avatar Aang’s cohort. Even once the princess retired from court life and spent most of her adulthood as a preeminent firebending teacher on Ember Island, documented meetings were frequently contentious), or the Fire Lord himself, Zuko, First of His Name.

The strongest argument in favor of a collaboration between Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe and Fire Lord Zuko, in this writer’s opinion, is the long history of often inappropriate in-jokes, both in their personal correspondence and in their contemporaries’ descriptions of their interactions and conversations.

One such clue is in the first of the extant letters from Sokka to the Fire Lord, less than a fortnight after the coronation. Most accounts still place Sokka as residing in the family wing of the royal household at this time, along with Avatar Aang, Master Katara, Master Toph, and Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors as well as various members of the cohorts' households. 

The letter begins with the expected formal pleasantries, which are written in a stiff hand that some scholars have attributed to Katara. There is a marked likeness to the other samples available of her writing from this period, although she develops a much looser hand in her later years. After this greeting and in what looks like his usual more flowing script, Sokka adds his own informal greeting. He refers to Zuko as ‘my favorite and the most kindly of traitors, and bravest and most generous of men.’ 

There remain thousands of missives between the men, ranging from long formal correspondence to notes scribbled on scraps and other more official documents. It seems quite likely, in this scholar’s opinion, that Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe would have taken great amusement in naming a fictional scholar he crafted with Fire Lord Zuko after a noted traitor to the throne.

—Kirima Hira’a, _A Storied Life in an Age of Upheaval: A History of Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe_ , p. 7


	2. A Stupid Piece of Parchment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Zuko knows better than to believe time heals all wounds, but it does change things. Scars fade, from places and faces alike, if proper care is bestowed upon them. Rebuilding a nation is no easy feat, but Zuko has faced more daunting tasks in his young life._
> 
> The time has come for the Fire Lord to take a spouse. Ambassador Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe is deeply unimpressed with the councilors' suggestions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Sokka’s dialogue in **The Waterbending Scroll** : _You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?_
> 
> This chapter contains references to canonical genocide and oblique references to Ozai's general terribleness.

_...know it seems peculiar to the other Nations that we are all benders, but lacking the ability to commune in such a natural way with any of the elements seems just as foreign to us. Why this should make us, the smallest and most materially humble of all the Nations, a threat to the Fire Lord makes little and less sense, but then our thinking has never been of a martial bent._

_Many causes may be given for war and violence, but certainly, to me, there are none worth killing for. It is perhaps unforgivably naive in a man of my advanced years to believe so, but I have not spent all the days of my life in following the teachings only to abandon them when the flight ahead proves turbulent._

_As our mutual friend among your great Sages mentioned in their last letter, fiery tempers seem likely to prevail. They are well-informed and most often correct in these matters, to my great sorrow. I may yet lay down my life in service to my people and the lands we have been blessed to call home._

_If I must take the lives of our misled brethren among the Fire Nation I will do so, but I selfishly hope that I shall not live long past the undertaking of such a heavy burden. The very thought of cutting a life short is repugnant in the extreme._

_Knowing it might very well come to such a state fills me with dread, but there have been ill winds from the North. I am not so lost to my dreams of peace as to ignore the Spirits when they graciously send us their warnings. We cannot expect fair weather to always prevail._

_Think kindly of a poor old fool, and your faithful friend, who still believes there is yet good to be found in all the Nations of the world._

_All my best to you and your family, but most especially to your sweet Rina. It filled my heart with joy to hear she enjoyed the nameday gift. There are few ways so sure to lighten the heart as enjoying a fine, windy day and the company of a sturdy kite._

_I have had ill dreams about Roku, of late, that leave me unsettled. I know not if they are messages from the Spirits, but I beg you to remain watchful. Do not hesitate to call on your friends from the far flung reaches if you ever have need of aid from outside your own nation._

_May fair winds guide you and warm hearth fires welcome you home._

_Your friend and humble servant,_

_Gyatso_

Partial surviving parchment from one of many letters written from Master Airbender and Council Elder Gyatso to Ta Min, noted Fire Nation horticulturist and wife to Avatar Roku. Despite rising tensions between their nations, Gyatso maintained a warm friendship with Ta Min and her family until their respective deaths.

Gyatso is one of the few bending Masters to mentor multiple incarnations of the Avatar, being a teacher to both Avatars Roku and Aang. He is widely reputed to have been one of the greatest Airbenders of old, but he was perhaps best known for his wisdom, kindness, and generosity.

Gyatso did, unfortunately, lay down his life to defend the children of the Southern Air Temple during the Air Nomad Genocide. From extant writings by both Avatar Aang and Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation, based on the condition of remains it’s likely Gyatso was, in fact, the first Airbender in generations to end another human life. His wish to not live long after this act was granted.

Ta Min was a horticulturist and landscape designer of great renown. She was responsible for many of the Fire Nation’s palace gardens, as well as the gardens of the great Fire Sage temple in the Caldera as well as on Ember Island. Her work led to the popularization of cherry blossoms and azaleas in royal and noble gardens, designs, and as accessories.

Ta Min’s great-grandson, Fire Lord Zuko, was the firebending master of Roku’s next incarnation, Avatar Aang, and helped him defeat Ozai the Disgraced.

Zuko was responsible for the creation and design of the memorial gardens in Capitol City dedicated to the lives lost during the Hundred Year War. A serenity pool was particularly dedicated in memory of Gyatso. The topiaries designed to look like flying bison which encircled the pool are a popular fixture in memorial gardens to this day.

Together, Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko made the pilgrimage to all four temples and gave the last rites to the Air Nomads that they had been denied at the time of their deaths.

\--materials provided by the Avatar Aang Trust in cooperation with the Air Nation Archives and the Preservation Society of Air Temple Island, on display in the National Museum of Caldera as part of the _The Evolving Legacy of Inter-Nation Friendships_ exhibit, lead curator Dr. Kazo Saowon of Ma’inka Island University

~~~

Zuko knows better than to believe time heals all wounds, but it does change things. Scars fade, from places and faces alike, if proper care is bestowed upon them. Rebuilding a nation is no easy feat, but Zuko has faced more daunting tasks in his young life.

Every day brings a new challenge, difficult and stressful and rewarding all at once. Toil, time, and hard-won patience have brought sweeping reforms to his own nation, and relief and reconciliation to the nations his has wronged.

Zuko has learned to pick and choose his battles, which are blessedly metaphorical most days, but he’s unsure how to handle this one with grace.

“Certainly the council can only strongly recommend their preferences, Your Highness,” his secretary says, carefully passing over the scroll. “But the political advantages are considerable. Symbolic or no.”

Zuko knows that Secretary Jee is only doing her job. She is by far one of the kindest and most capable people he knows, but right now he would like nothing more than to shove her through his office door and not speak to her or any of his advisors. Or see anyone ever again. 

Just leave him here in his office to never have to speak to or see another person. It’s a familiar impulse, though it’s been a few years since he’s dealt with the urge in the face of Jee’s gentle patience.

“You are correct that the council may only offer their recommendations.” Even as the words spill forth he knows he’s taking out his frustrations on the wrong person. “I have willingly made many sacrifices for the Fire Nation and will do so for the rest of my days. But on this I will not yield. Not yet.”

Jee looks at him with her big, kind eyes, and simply replies, “Yes, sir.”

“I’m sorry, Jee.” Zuko slumps in his chair and buries his face in his hands. “None of this is your fault.”

“I know. And I know you know. And you always feel bad after you pull out the formal speak with me.” 

When he looks up she’s smiling, but it’s sad around the edges. Zuko still feels a horrible ache in his chest. One that has nothing to do with the lightning scars that crisscross his torso. 

“It’s not unreasonable to expect, sir.” Her voice is firm, no-nonsense. She doesn’t mess about with pleasantries and political speak, not when it's just the two of them. It’s one of the reasons she’s worked so closely with him for years. “Especially when it's such an obvious opportunity to advance relations with the other nations.”

“I know.” Zuko looks down at the list and can’t help pulling a face. “I just can’t believe this was the best list of options the councilors could come up with.”

“It’s not.” Jee passes him another scroll. “This was the one I browbeat them into. Only people you've actually met, all age appropriate, no bad blood.” She makes a considering expression. “At least not personally or presently. Your schedule is clear for the rest of the night. I suggest you take a look at those before retiring and think about it.”

“Thank you, Jee. Have a nice evening.”

“Thank you, sir.” She bows and exits, the door closing behind her with a soft click.

Zuko unfurls the second scroll and Jee’s right, as per usual. The names are all familiar, if not all friendly. It’s a fair mix of Nations and genders, all of an appropriate age and station, if not of temperament. He snorts when he sees Hahn of the Northern Water Tribe near the top of the list. 

“When moo-sows fly.”

As if the borrowed phrase has summoned him, Zuko’s door is knocked on and then swiftly opened without waiting for a reply. Sokka walks in, still dressed in the finely embroidered over-tunic he usually wears when arguing with various august personages. Generally with those who cannot be swayed by his smooth talking or the bright white flash of his charming smile or the thickly muscled arms revealed by his frequently sleeveless garments.

How anyone ever tells Sokka no when he really wants something has always been a mystery to Zuko.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I know we were supposed to meet half an hour ago to go over the lieutenants’ notes on the siege for my paper, but I got stuck talking to the agricultural minister about rice yields. Again.” Sokka throws himself into his usual chair in a graceless splay of long limbs that shouldn't be as appealing as it is. “If I never hear the words ‘soil erosion’ again it’ll be too soon. Please tell me you haven’t eaten yet. I could eat a whale-walrus.”

Sokka’s chair is an overstuffed monstrosity in the same shade of blue as his eyes. Zuko had it specially made when it became clear Sokka had only a passing familiarity with the angular and uncomfortable nature of furniture in the Fire Nation. He would no doubt grievously injure himself by tossing his body onto various stiff and pointy chairs if Zuko hadn’t done something about it.

The color was, of course, unintentional. The fabric just happened to be the finest the drapers had available when Zuko commissioned the chair. 

Chairs.

It’s possible Zuko had a number of them made and placed in the rooms around the palace where Sokka seemed to spend most of his time. Zuko may never become a master of the finer courtly graces, but he is, if nothing else, a conscientious host.

Every time Katara and Aang visit Katara just looks at the chairs and then at Zuko with a resigned expression that makes him want to sink straight into the floor. Aang, bless his oblivious heart, just commented on what a nice shade of blue they were and said they brightened the place up. 

Zuko adores Aang. Aang can visit whenever he wants. Katara and her judgy, unhelpful face can stay home.

“Not yet. Jee just left for the day.”

“This late?” Sokka glances first at the markations of the candle on the desk and then out the window at the gathering dusk. He looks back at Zuko with furrowed brows. “What were you guys working on?”

Zuko looks down at the scroll still clenched in his fist and sighs. He extends his hand across the desk and Sokka takes the scroll with a familiar expression of interest. Sokka loves a good plan. He unfurls the scroll and begins reading, expression darkening as he goes.

“Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

Zuko slumps further in his chair and shrugs. He swears he can almost hear Uncle laughing at him all the way from Ba Sing Se.

“Like you haven’t sacrificed enough for them?” Sokka rises from his chair, gesturing emphatically as he starts pacing in front of the desk. “Now they want to pick your spouse, too?!”

“I don’t like it, either. I thought I’d have more time before they started getting insistent.”

“More time?” Sokka stops pacing and stares slack jawed like Zuko’s pronounced he’s abdicating the throne in favor of Momo. “More _time_?!” His voice rises to a squeak. “What, you mean you always expected them to write up a nice list of potential consorts for you? Like it’s just another task on your to-do list?”

“I may have been banished, but for most of my life I was raised as a prince in this palace.” It makes something hot and fierce curl beneath his breastbone to see Sokka so righteously indignant on his behalf. He ruthlessly shoves the feeling down. “Royals don’t often marry for love. My parents didn’t.”

“And look how badly that turned out!” Sokka winces. “Okay, sorry. Sorry. If nothing else, their marriage means the Fire Nation is lucky enough to have you. And also, uh, I guess that was kind of an extreme example.”

Zuko wishes the heat he feels wouldn't translate into the deep blush he's sure is creeping across his face. “You're not wrong. The people in my family who choose their own partners have usually fared better.”

He thinks of Uncle who, despite his habit of flirting with anyone who stands still long enough, never remarried even to secure the line of succession. Of how, even years after she was gone, he spoke of his wife with a profound tenderness and longing that made Zuko squirm.

Uncle was always better at feelings than the rest of the royal family put together.

“My parents’ marriage was not a success by any measure.” Zuko scrubs a tired hand across the stiff muscles at the back of his neck. “But I’m not my father. Anyone on that list would be given a choice and a partner who respects them and will do their best to treat them well. And as your sister loves to remind everyone, none of us are getting any younger.” 

Sokka grins, a small, soft thing tucked into the corner of his mouth. It makes the dimple on his left cheek pop and Zuko somehow manages to keep himself from reaching out a trembling hand and tracing it with his thumb. He’s gotten good at suppressing impulses like that over the years.

“I’m lucky they’re not pressing me more heavily about securing the line of succession. With the...weakness in our line, there’s been no argument against naming a successor not of our blood when the time comes.”

“Well. I guess there’s that.” Sokka’s posture softens and he drops back into his chair. “It still sucks.”

“It does.”

They sit in silence as the candle on the desk continues to burn and the dark continues to gather outside and they both continue to grow older. Time, unfortunately, marches ever forward.

“So. Dinner?”

“Oh! Sure, man, of course.” Sokka stands and places the scroll on the desk, rather more gently than Zuko would’ve predicted. “There’s this hole in the wall I’ve been meaning to take you to for ages. They make the best hand pulled noodles you’ve ever had in your life. I was gonna wait until the next time the gang was all here, but I think today is a day that calls for lots and lots of pasta.”

Zuko rises from his own chair and stares down at the scroll.

“Sounds good. I could eat my weight in noodles.”

Sokka smirks over his shoulder as he opens the door and Zuko’s traitorous heart gives a stubborn, stuttering thump in his chest. “I know.”

Well. Zuko supposes the list can wait for tomorrow.


	3. Normal All the Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Thanks to the runaway box office success and awards season triumphs of THE LAST AIRBENDER, an adaptation of the bestselling book of the same name, there has been a resurgence of new media coverage of the time between Avatar Aang’s return and the beginning of the reign of Fire Lord Zuko, First of His Name. THE LAST AIRBENDER, Nyahita Okagawa’s magnum opus in an already lauded career in both academic texts and historical novels, is certainly considered the definitive novel on the period. Yet there are countless tales to be told from this era. Here, we bring several of our favorite books on the time period to the attention of our readers._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Aang’s dialogue in **The Headband** : _You don't know what it's like, Sokka. You get to be normal all the time._

Thanks to the runaway box office success and awards season triumphs of THE LAST AIRBENDER, an adaptation of the bestselling book of the same name, there has been a resurgence of new media coverage of the time between Avatar Aang’s return and the beginning of the reign of Fire Lord Zuko, First of His Name. THE LAST AIRBENDER, Nyahita Okagawa’s magnum opus in an already lauded career in both academic texts and historical novels, is certainly considered the definitive novel on the period. Yet there are countless tales to be told from this era. Here, we bring several of our favorite books on the time period to the attention of our readers.

THE LAST LOVE SONGS OF OUR MISSPENT YOUTH by Masajirō Kōtarō

The only poetry volume on the list, Kōtarō’s fifth collection is, as its title suggests, composed of poems in the form of songs, though most are not, in the traditional sense, love songs. It’s also one of the most lauded books of poetry published in years, garnering its author the prestigious Beifong Genius Grant as well as the Omashu Prize for Excellence in Poetry.

Each love song is from the perspective of a different Fire Nation citizen or colonist at the close of the 100 Years War and the advent of Fire Lord Zuko’s reign. These people range from humble fishermen, war orphans, foot soldiers, and housewives to the Dragon of the West, himself.

With equal measures sorrow and joy, hope and devastation, THE LAST LOVE SONGS OF OUR MISSPENT YOUTH paints a picture of a nation at war within and without. Kōtarō writes for the lives lost and won, for the generations long gone and those yet to come, giving birth to a vivid depiction of a Fire Nation in transition.

The songs meander through ancient and modern forms and genres, showcasing the poet’s depth of knowledge and willingness to play with a form well-mastered. A tribute and a warning both, this collection is a compelling read even for our readers who typically shy away from reading poetry for leisure.

In THE CROWN PRINCE’S LAMENT, we are brought to General Iroh’s darkest day, when Fire Nation forces finally took the outer walls of Ba Sing Se in siege, but Prince Lu Ten was gravely injured and did not survive the battle. The poem takes the form, if not the tone, of a children’s nursery song, like those Iroh sang to his son each year on his birthday until the end of his days. “And though the walls of Ba Sing Se / Did crumble beneath our might / What is won can always be lost / What is lost cannot be put right.”

Page Count: 172

Publisher: Ostrich Horse

Categories: POETRY | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | HISTORY | HISTORICAL & MILITARY | HISTORICAL & ROYAL | FIRST AGE OF THE AVATAR | THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR | WORLD | 

THE WAR TO END ALL WARS by Kelsing Koramatsu

Perhaps the most intimidating book on this list, Koramatsu’s intensive study of the military actions during the 100 Years War has long been considered the definitive academic tome on the subject. A standard text in university classrooms and required reading at both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom’s war colleges, THE WAR TO END ALL WARS is 732 pages of dense military history, unflinching in its descriptions of violence and exacting in its attention to detail. 

For readers willing to tackle the dry going, there’s certainly much to be learned from this deep dive into the campaigns and numerous fronts of the world’s longest and bloodiest conflict. It pays particular attention to the smaller sea conflicts involving the Water Tribes, often ignored in other texts. A comprehensive macro and micro view of the military aspects of the war, it’s an excellent read for completists interested in the period.

Page Count: 732

Publisher: Si Wong

Categories: GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | GENERAL HISTORY | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | HISTORICAL & MILITARY | HISTORICAL & ROYAL | FIRST AGE OF THE AVATAR | THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR | WORLD | HISTORY | 

LOVE AMONG THE FLAMES by Jìngyi Kāneʻohe

6 weeks on the Republic City Times Paperback Best Seller List

The most recently published and the only genre romance on our list, this novel from frequent historical romance bestseller Kāneʻohe is a lush and devastating tale of love in wartime. Loosely based on The Tale of Two Lovers and translated into a different historical setting, LOVE AMONG THE FLAMES tells the story of Yawen, an Earthbender from a wealthy noble family, and Koatik, a poor but respected Water Tribe warrior hired to train the fledgeling local navy being established in Yawen’s fictional home city. 

Their forbidden romance is but one compelling aspect of this beautifully wrought story of a city poised on the knife edge of conflict, and the ways war makes strange bedfellows. Though things often look dark, Kāneʻohe firmly adheres to romance’s sacred tenant: the main couple’s happy ending. Koatik and Yawen get their happily for now, though the novel’s blissful close is tempered by the reader’s knowledge of the bittersweet reality waiting in their world’s ongoing conflict.

Page Count: 321

Publisher: Phoenix

Categories: HISTORICAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE | HISTORICAL FICTION | THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR | FIRST AGE OF THE AVATAR | 

THE LAST AIRBENDER by Nyahita Okagawa

73 weeks on the Republic City Times Best Seller List

The novel that launched a thousand copycats, THE LAST AIRBENDER is the latest in a storied career by novelist and historian Nyahita Okagawa. 

As revealed in an explosive interview with director Kim So-youn during the film adaptation’s awards season press tour, Okagawa, who is credited for the film’s screenplay alongside Kim, is the nom de plume for Princess Zukiya of the Fire Nation. Princess Zukiya is a noted philanthropist and humanitarian, occasional guest lecturer for the history and literature departments at the National University in Caldera, and the largely reclusive first daughter and second child of Her Royal Majesty Fire Lord Rina, Fourth of Her Name. The royal family are direct descendants of Fire Lord Zuko’s adopted daughter Fire Lord Izumi.

The film adaptation was a box office success, swept multiple awards shows, and has been rapturously received by critics. That the book it’s based on is a masterwork is no surprise to any of Okagawa’s existing fanbase, who have long touted the author as one of the great writers of our time. 

In THE LAST AIRBENDER, she expertly weaves together the disparate paths of then-banished Prince Zuko, newly awakened Avatar Aang, Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, and Toph Beifong on their journey from strangers and enemies to allies and lifelong companions. Painstakingly researched and exquisitely told, no list of recommendations for the era can be complete without it.

Page Count: 475

Publisher: Caldera

Categories: HISTORICAL ROMANCE | ROMANTIC FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION | HISTORICAL & MILITARY | HISTORICAL & ROYAL | THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR | FIRST AGE OF THE AVATAR | 


End file.
